Chapter 420: The Old Vhaloric System 2

When she opened them again, she didn’t react dramatically.

Only quiet acceptance.

"I expected a large number."

Aurelian understood that more than he wanted to.

"Helion can explain what happened."

"Later," Seraphiel said.

She looked toward the frigate again.

"My vessel is functional."

Meridian answered.

"Mostly."

Seraphiel turned toward her.

"Mostly?"

"Your secondary relay array is damaged."

"I dislike that word."

Meridian’s expression barely changed.

"You will hear it often."

Yelena covered her mouth.

Astra looked away.

Aurelian decided the two of them would probably get along.

Seraphiel turned back toward him.

"What is my current assignment?"

"You don’t have one yet."

That seemed to surprise her.

"You awakened me without an assignment."

"I awakened you because you were still here."

Seraphiel studied him for a moment.

That answer apparently mattered.

Aurelian continued.

"When your systems are checked, we’ll talk about the Crownward March and decide where you fit."

"Decide?"

"Yes."

"You permit refusal?"

Aurelian frowned slightly.

"Of course."

Seraphiel looked toward Meridian again.

"Is that normal now?"

Meridian thought about it.

"Under him, yes."

Seraphiel returned her attention to Aurelian.

"Then I will listen before deciding."

"Good."

The first awakening had gone far more smoothly than Aurelian expected.

Naturally, that made him suspicious of the second.

The assault cruiser sat in the neighboring dock.

Compared with Seraphiel’s narrow frigate, the cruiser looked like someone had built an engine around a weapon and then added armor until they ran out of material.

The forward section was enormous.

Astra studied it through the barrier.

"I think Rhoswen would like this one."

"That is not a recommendation."

"It was not meant to be."

Meridian checked the cruiser core.

"Outer lattice is damaged, but the central architecture is responding."

Aurelian looked at her.

"Can we do it safely?"

"Yes."

"You’re sure?"

"No."

He waited.

Meridian looked at him.

"No engineering work is completely safe."

"That answer was unnecessary."

"It was accurate."

They proceeded.

The authentication worked again.

This time, the response was slower.

Several systems failed to power on during the first attempt.

Yelena and Meridian spent nearly twenty minutes rerouting power before the command core finally stabilized.

Then the cruiser woke.

The light forming beside the control platform was much brighter than Seraphiel’s had been.

A tall woman appeared.

Her hair was deep red, tied behind her back in a loose tail.

Dark armor covered her shoulders and arms, though the rest of her clothing was far simpler than Aurelian expected from the ship waiting behind her.

Her eyes opened.

Amber.

She looked directly at Aurelian.

Then at Astra.

Then Meridian.

Finally, she looked through the barrier toward the cruiser.

"My forward accelerator is damaged."

Those were her first words.

Meridian answered immediately.

"Yes."

The woman frowned.

"Repair it."

Aurelian almost laughed.

Meridian did not.

"That depends on whether the internal focusing rails survived."

"They survived."

"How do you know?"

"They are mine."

Meridian stared at her for several seconds.

Yelena whispered, "This will be interesting."

Aurelian agreed.

The cruiser shipgirl finally turned toward him.

"Identify."

"Aurelian Arcturus."

"Rank?"

"Tier Three commander."

She looked him over again.

"Low."

Astra’s eyebrow moved.

Aurelian remained calm.

"Apparently."

The woman glanced at the command display.

"Emergency successor authority. Helion recognition. Strategic stewardship."

She paused.

"Less low."

Aurelian heard Yelena make a strange noise behind him.

He chose not to turn around.

"What is your name?" he asked.

The shipgirl straightened.

"Vaelith. Vhaloric assault cruiser. Heavy forward engagement and breakthrough operations."

That fit the hull perfectly.

Aurelian nodded.

"Welcome back, Vaelith."

She looked around the dock.

"Where is my battle group?"

Aurelian did not try to soften it.

"Gone."

Her expression changed.

Only slightly.

That small change said enough.

"How long?"

"Centuries."

Vaelith stared through the barrier at her ship.

Then she exhaled slowly.

"I see."

Aurelian gave her time.

Eventually, she looked toward him again.

"You awakened me."

"Yes."

"Then I assume you need ships."

"I do."

"Good."

Her answer came so quickly that Aurelian almost smiled.

"You haven’t heard what you’re joining."

"I am a warship."

"That is not the same thing as agreeing to follow me."

Vaelith tilted her head.

"You have enemies?"

"Several."

"Do they have fleets?"

"Yes."

"Then explain the rest while they repair my gun."

Meridian sighed.

Aurelian decided that was probably the closest thing to enthusiasm he was going to get from her.

By the end of the evening, both awakened ships had been moved onto full inspection schedules.

Seraphiel’s frigate needed less work than expected.

Meridian estimated four days before limited deployment and perhaps ten before every relay and electronic system was fully restored.

Vaelith’s cruiser would take longer.

The forward weapon really was damaged.

Not destroyed, but badly misaligned.

Two focusing rails needed replacement, several shield nodes were dead, and one engine section had suffered long-term degradation.

Even so, Meridian believed the cruiser could be operational within three weeks.

Aurelian considered that an excellent result.

Two ships would not solve Crownward’s fleet shortages.

But one mobile coordination frigate and one heavy assault cruiser would help.

More importantly, both had awakened cleanly.

That meant the remaining dormant Vhaloric hulls at Helion were worth reviewing more carefully.

Aurelian was not going to wake everything simply because he could.

Some cores would be damaged.

Some ships would not be useful enough to justify the resources.

Some might choose not to serve.

That was fine.

The fleet did not need bodies.

It needed people and ships that had a reason to be there.

When Aurelian returned to Black Crown that night, he privately opened the Destiny System one more time.

He asked a simple question.

How many recoverable shipgirl command cores remained within Helion Bastion Twelve?

The answer took several seconds.

Confirmed high-compatibility recoverable cores: four.

Probable recoverable cores: nine.

Additional dormant military personality structures: uncertain.

Aurelian read the result and closed the interface.

He did not tell Astra.

He did not tell Meridian.

He did not tell Eirenne.

Instead, the next morning, he planned to ask Meridian for an ordinary inspection of Helion’s remaining sealed military hulls.

That was enough.

The System could point him toward opportunities.

It didn’t need to make decisions for everyone else.

For now, Crownward had gained Seraphiel and Vaelith.

Rhoswen was going to complain that she had missed both awakenings.

Aurelian was already certain of that.

He was less certain how long it would take her to ask whether Vaelith wanted to test the forward accelerator against something.

Probably not long.